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ECHO TO BECOME DEDICATED ALPINE RACE TRAINING CENTER

Publish Date

08/29/2012

SAM Magazine—Idaho Springs, Colo., Aug. 29, 2012— Pykkonen Capital LLC has purchased Echo Mountain, and will convert the area into an alpine race training facility serving Denver-area competitors. The transformation of Echo Mountain into the Front Range Ski Club will begin in the coming weeks and involve the entire property.

Nora Pykkonen, the new owner, is a ski racing mom. She’s also a managing member of the Front Range Ski Club and co-founder of Slalom Consulting, a national management consulting company with 1,300 employees.

Pykkonen plans to spend $5 million to double the mountain’s vertical, to 1,500 vertical feet. The Club is planning additional upgrades to serve its high-performance training needs, such as new terrain and ski runs including a Super G course, a new organic restaurant, 17 additional snow guns, homework and tutoring stations, building upgrades, and a new pick-up/drop off shuttle system with stops throughout Denver.

Operating on a membership basis, the Front Range Ski Club will have a heavy emphasis on after-school programs for young alpine racers looking for advanced training. The club has already secured World Cup Alpine ski racers from around the world to coach, including Sarah Schelper-Gaxiola, Petter Brenna, Patrik Järbyn and Mike Farny, and expects to announce additional coaches in the coming weeks.

"As a mother of children who have recently fallen in love with alpine racing, I was inspired to create a premiere training facility that provides innovative and progressive coaching in a nearby location that allows families to better balance their children’s schooling and time at home. The fact that so many families in the area share my enthusiasm and that many World Cup athletes have signed on to be coaches demonstrates the Front Range Ski Club is a winning concept,” said Pykkonen.

Echo Mountain customers who had purchased season passes for 2012-13 will receive a refund for their passes.

I think this is an excellent idea. Echo could simply not compete for the recreational market, and "programming" the hill is the only way it really makes sense. I would hope that they open it to the public for some race programs and recreational racing to help supplement their revenue and involve the community. I think they should be a little cautious about turning this into a "private" hill.

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